Inner West Council smashes weekend event hosted by anti-childhood vaccination advocate David “Avocado” Wolfe

COMMUNITY pressure has forced a Sydney council to cancel an event that was to be hosted by noted international anti-vaccination advocate David ‘Avocado’ Wolfe.

David Wolfe has linked childhood vaccinations to autism.

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COMMUNITY pressure has forced a Sydney council to cancel an event that was to be hosted by noted international anti-vaccination advocate David “Avocado” Wolfe.

The Inner West Council has quashed a booking to use Marrickville Town Hall for a “Raw Cacao Dance Party” this Saturday night after being inundated with complaints from residents.

Council administrator Richard Pearson said it should have been forewarned about Mr Wolfe’s attendance at the party by the event organisers.

Mr Wolfe, who is in Sydney as part of his Australian tour spruiking the benefits of raw foods and alternative health products, has linked mandatory childhood vaccinations to autism.

Raw food expert David Wolfe pictured in Coogee ahead of his planned appearance at a conference in Sydney this weekend.

“Inner West Council does not wish to be associated in any way with such views,” Mr Pearson said.

Mr Wolfe’s tour incudes a three-day nutrition and “wellness” seminar at the International Convention Centre (ICC) at Darling Harbour.

The Marrickville dance party, promoted as a celebration of raw chocolate, is linked to the seminar.

On Wednesday the Inner West Courier reported that social media sites were being bombarded with messages from critics saying the dance party will provide a platform for the American wellness guru to mislead parents about childhood vaccination.

David “Avocado” Wolfe, on a national tour of Australia, has had a dance party he was to host at Marrickville Town Hall cancelled after the Inner West Council was inundated with complaints from residents opposed to his controversial views on vaccinations.

Locals wanted the council to cancel Mr Wolfe’s booking for the town hall.

On his website Mr Wolfe highlights articles linking mandatory childhood vaccinations to autism.

His website states: “A growing body of evidence indicates that vaccines are not safe and that they can injure, permanently maim, or even kill you or a family member.”

A screenshot of David Wolfe's website.

Mr Pearson confirmed today the council decided to cancel the Marrickville event after numerous complaints from residents and local Labor MP for Summer Hill, Jo Haylen.

“Over the past few days, we have tried to reassure our residents that vaccinations and immunisation would not be discussed at the event, and we obtained a written statement from the organisers that this would be the case,” he said.

“However we continued to receive many more complaints about the presence of David Wolfe in the past 24 hours.

“It is clear that our community feels extremely strongly about Mr Wolfe and his highly unconventional views, particularly around the issue of vaccinations. They have made it clear that they feel hosting Mr Wolfe in a council-owned venue is a validation and endorsement of his anti-immunisation stance.

“This is an illustration of the strong views of our community about endorsing a message that runs counter to all accepted medical advice.”

Mr Wolfe’s articles link mandatory childhood vaccinations to autism. Picture: iStock

Mr Pearson said the council, which is an unequivocal supporter of child immunisation and vaccination programs, runs a monthly immunisation clinic and employs an immunisation officer.

A spokesman for tour sponsors, health supplement company Superfeast, said that Mr Wolfe was not going to mention vaccination issues during his seminar or the dance party.

“David’s personal opinion has nothing to do with his work in Australia,” the spokesman said.

“His events are here, purely to talk about wellness and nutrition and having the best health that you can possibly have, regardless of your beliefs or choices.”

There have also been calls for Mr Wolfe’s appearance at the ICC to be halted.

An event set down for The Concourse theatre at Chatswood this week, where he was to speak about nutrition, detoxification and anti-ageing issues, was cancelled after the event’s sponsor, a vitamin retailer, was inundated with complaints about Mr Wolfe’s views.

In northern NSW, pro-vaccination supporters are calling for his event, set down for 16 March at the Jing Organics outlet in Byron Bay, to be shut down.

The ICC confirmed on Wednesday that Mr Wolfe’s event will go ahead this weekend because it had not been deemed “unsafe, offensive or illegal” and was therefore not considered at risk of breaching their public-private partnership contract with the government.